Thursday, June 19, 2008

Catching Up, Part 4

And then when I was finished, I was faced with a half gallon of whole milk I did not need. I decided to try a recipe I had found on-line to make my own ricotta cheese.

First, I sterilized my big dutch oven by boiling water in it (with the lid on, actually!) for five minutes.

Then I dumped out the water and heated that half gallon of milk until it reached 180 degrees. At that point, I stirred in 1/8th cup of white vinegar. Wow!

The whey separated and the clumps of cheese formed.

I ladeled the clumps of cheese onto several layers of sterilized cheesecloth I had placed over a sterilized can. The remaining liquid drained away, and I was left with the fresh cheese.

Never one to leave well enough alone, to that, I added garlic and Italian sausage spices, salt, and parsley for color. I tasted it and even before it cooled, I knew I had a winner!

I stored it in a sterilized container that once held ricotta (easy on my elderly brain later when I need to find it!!) That half gallon of milk made almost a half of a 3 pound container full.So, I figure a whole gallon of milk, next time, would net me about 2 to 2-1/2 pounds of ricotta. I just priced 15 ounces of Precious Whole Milk Ricotta at my grocery store for $3.99. A gallon of the house brand milk is currently $3.59 at the same store. Even if I get just two pounds of ricotta from a gallon of milk, I've saved more than half! Whoo hoo!

About Me

I am a wife, a mom, a recycled mom, a daughter, a sister, a bestest friend, a retired medical transcription service owner, a quilter, and with any luck, now that I am retired, I can add gardener, canner, and chicken keeper to this list!

"He is your friend, your partner, your defender -- your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion." --unknown

Say what you mean and mean what you say, but don't say it mean.

"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."